Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The absurdity of the criticism of Iran
I have mentioned on many occasions (originally here) the fact that the Supreme (religious) Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons (in 2005, a few days after Hiroshima Day). Given that, how bizarre is it to read in The New Republic the following, from someone who is the director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University, no less (you won't be surprised to learn he works at the Hoover Institute):
There has been much debate about where Iran’s democratic protesters stand on the country’s nuclear program. In the past weeks, there have been many new indications that the green movement rejects the Islamic Republic’s pursuit of a nuclear bomb. The following fatwa by the Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri is another significant piece of evidence suggesting the movement’s repudiation.So a 2009 fatwa by one Ayatollah is a "repudiation" of the 2005 fatwa of the Supreme Leader saying exactly the same thing? Nice try.
